


Fate's Valentine's Incident

by MEGArdevoir



Category: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha | Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-03-18 12:56:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3570452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MEGArdevoir/pseuds/MEGArdevoir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fate returns from work early only to realize she had lost track of what day it was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fate's Valentine's Incident

Moving to an entirely different planet had its share of problems. Sure, Fate was never originally from Earth to begin with, but being wed to someone who was gave her more than enough reason to keep Earth customs in mind. This tended to work out well enough due to her obsessive and meticulous nature and in spite of having to balance two calendars.

That was until today.

As far as she was concerned, today was any other ordinary day. An enjoyable one, sure—Fate was going on leave an entire week early after finishing her most recent mission earlier than planned. This was something to be excited for and the only thoughts on her mind during her drive home were of Nanoha, Vivio, and getting to catch up on sleep.

At home, she called out to for her family only to discover they were out. Disappointing, but as tired as she was, Fate decided it was best to take a nap and be rested for when her wife and daughter returned. She went to the kitchen to get a snack first and that was when the panic hit.

An ordinary paper calendar hung from the fridge, serving as both a decorative reminder of Earth and a convenient way to track its holidays. Seeing the date prompted her freeze and asked in a voice quiet even for her, “Bardiche, what is today? On Earth?”

“ FEBRUARY FOURTEENTH, SIR. “

Her heart sank and a frown exploded across her face. Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day! She had completely lost track of the days—the first time this had ever happened! And of all days to lose track of—this was second only to the terror of forgetting their anniversary. Thankfully THAT would never happen.

But to be safe, she asked Bardiche and he verified that, no today was not also somehow their anniversary.

“Okay. We must stay calm.” Bardiche chimed in to inform her that he was, in fact, calm, but Fate decided to let him know she was doing this more for herself than anyone else. “It may be getting late, but I can drive to the store and get…something. Something. Oh.”

For someone who planned gifts three months in advance, this situation constituted an emergency. Fate dashed out the door to the car and had to consciously remind herself _not_ to use her magic to go any faster. She threw the door open, slid into the seat, and gave the command for the ignition and…

She tried again and received a short screech, far more red lights on the dashboard than were necessary, and the scent of burned electronics in response. Fate gaped at the console as Bardiche answered the question she could not get herself to ask: “ VEHICLE OUT OF COMMISSION. WILL REQUIRE PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE. CLOSEST PROFESSIONAL AVAILABLE WITHIN FOUR HOURS.”

A pause.

“ SORRY, SIR. ”

Fate banged her head against the steering wheel once. Twice. Three times.

Flying was out of the question: she did not doubt that she could get to a story— _any_ store—and return before anyone intervened, but spending the rest of Valentine’s Day explaining to the Mid-Childan officials that would inevitably on her case that she broke the most basic law on the planet for the sake of a foreign holiday would ruin the day, regardless of how nice a present she could find. That said, the thought _was_ tempting; in the face of the disappointment of not having a gift for Nanoha, a strike on her record almost sounded preferable.

Perhaps if she were Nanoha or Hayate, law-breaking would have been a legitimate option, but Fate being Fate, she managed to quickly discard the idea entirely. Surely there was something she could do here at the house. Something simple but romantic may work; she could prepare dinner as well as…Oh. Never mind. Vivio was likely to be with Nanoha when she returned home, so any surprises involving Fate’s state of dress would be inappropriate. This also precluded her from calling Hayate for any last minute advice.

So, cooking it was. She was capable at it, even if she felt she was not at everyone else’s standard. Fate could prepare a meal and apologize so that she could get a gift tomorrow. It was her only hope, but it should be doable. With that said, opening the cupboards and refrigerator left her disappointed. Had Nanoha not done any grocery shopping over the last two months? The options for dinner were nonexistent—not unless Fate dared to make a cheeseless chicken sandwich with the last pickle and try to sell that as a romantic dinner.

Dinner was out of the question, but still not all hope was lost. There was flour. She found sugar. Then, a half-eaten container of frosting. They were the keys to a cake and her savior. It would not be the best cake ( why did the frosting look as though half of it had been screaped out by small hands? ) but it should barely suffice.

Fate had made plenty of cakes in her time, so this should not have been difficult. ‘Should’ being key. She took out the cake and it crumbled before her as she tried to frost it. The eggs—she had left out the eggs! This was what happened when she felt too confident—she overlooked things and made mistakes. As the cake crumbled, so had her hopes.

Fate had only one last choice.

“Mom. Mom! I’ve messed up so badly.” That choice was to call her mother and frantically beg her for a solution. “I forgot Valentine’s Day, have nothing for Nanoha, and…and I have no idea what to do!”

Lindy let out a sigh and smiled. As much of an emergency as Fate thought this was, Lindy had expected a _real_ emergency by her behavior. “Fate. I understand you are worried, but please calm. Can you do that?” Fate nodded and collected herself. “If it were possible, I swear you took after Chrono’s father. He forgot his share of holidays and anniversaries only to tear himself down. If I know Nanoha as well as I feel I do, you have nothing to worry about. You are lucky to have someone who loves you as dearly as I do.”

The words helped calm Fate, but did nothing to assuage her shame. “But—”

“Fate-mama!”

Both Fate and Lindy directed their attention to the voice to see Vivio dropping several bags of groceries onto the floor to leap into Fate’s arms.

“Oh! Look at this. _Someone_ is home early for once.” And, as expected, followed Nanoha carrying a dozen more bags. The grin on her face matched Vivio’s.

Fate stood to look Nanoha in the eyes only to look down. She cradled Vivio in her arms. “Oh, Nanoha. I’m sorry.  I know today is Valentine’s Day, but I messed up. I have nothing for you. I’m sorry.”

While Fate was looking down feeling sorry for herself, Nanoha bent over so that they could make eye contact. Her wife had a raised eyebrow and one of those smirks that meant something was going to happen and Fate wouldn’t be able to anticipate it.

“Fate. Faaate. _Fate-chan._ You’re not a good liar. You know that, right? So terrible.” Nanoha shook her head and clicked her tongue. Vivio nodded and parroted the sentiment. Fate was baffled. “Just the worst liar, Fate-chan.”

After over a decade of being with someone, people tend to catch onto subtle things, even people as dense as Fate. But all she could make out from this was that she was somehow being teased and she was not sure of how nor why.

Before she could sputter out a question, she had Nanoha’s arms around her shoulders and hugged her along with Vivio. “For Valentine’s Day, I’ve got Fate-chan. The best possible gift of all and one I wasn’t expecting today.”

That was right. She was home over a week early and just in time for the holiday. For Nanoha, that was enough of a gift; Fate shook her head at her own cluelessness, but now managed a smile along with a few tears. She should have known. Fate turned to say something to her mother, only to be in time to see Lindy wave and cut the connection.

“Oh, Nanoha.”

“Oh, Fate.”

“…I am still getting you a gift tomorrow.”

This earned her a soft knock on the head from Nanoha.


End file.
